meg-nificent

Today's Project

2011-11-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

My high chair looked like this this morning. You can't tell in the picture but all of the plastic covering was ripped and hanging in pieces.

Now it looks like this:

It turned out better than I thought it would and I'm quite happy with it! Now I'm off to pack for Winnipeg tomorrow with my mom and Reese! A girls overnight shopping trip.... can't wait.

Hello again old friend

2011-11-17T14:55:00.000-08:00

Time for an update I think. I am in Christmas mode already. I made a list of all the baking I want to do. In that list is butter tarts, white chocolate and cranberry shortbread, peanut butter and marshmallow cake, magic bars, nuts and bolts and caramel corn. I have already ordered our Christmas cards. The house is mostly fall cleaned... just the kitchen left! And I have been tackling some special quilt-y Christmas gifts which I will post later. I finished a Christmas table runner for my mom for her birthday. It kinda turned out all bunchy and I was not impressed but its not terrible. Oh well. When I do the quilts for Christmas I will be a lot more diligent when I put the top, batting and back together!!

Reese is in preschool and dance and doing ok at both. We still have the odd outburst from her but it's getting less and less. I took her skating last Friday and that lasted about 10 minutes and a couple falls on her bum before she was screaming and crying at me that she was done! I think I have her convinced to go back again sometime and hopefully this year we can at least achieve balance on her skates!

Nixon is now pulling himself up on things and is getting really good at going from crawling to sitting to knees to standing. He's a very mobile little dude. He smiles at the drop of a hat except for this week as he had a terrible cold that lasted 5 days.

Sully is pretty uneventful I guess.... he is just talking more. He wants to skate too so next time we might all try and go and see how he fares.

I have a ton of crafty projects left to do and am just trying to do a little each day as I can. I have the one quilt top done for Christmas and the other one awaiting some letter appliques. I have the material all ready to go for my new high chair cover. And I need to make Nixon a Christmas stocking and maybe do a little embellishment to the other ones stockings too. Wish me luck!

Fall!

2011-10-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time hasn't it??
Oops. September is gone and all I can say is good riddance! Not that I don't love a long fall it's just that we were all sick for the month of September, thus trapped at home. Reese had Scarlet fever/strep throat, then I had strep, then the boys and myself have impetigo and Staph infections. So we're all on antibiotics at last and things are looking up.

What's new.... Reese has started preschool again. This year its 2 days a week and she is loving it. There are nineteen 4 year olds in her class this year! All those kids in one room, sounds like a nightmare to me. ha ha. She is starting dance this afternoon and she is pumped for that and I am going to try and get her skating this year also.


First day of preschool!!

Sullivan is a normal, 2 year old bruiser. He constantly has a goose egg on his head. He loves to torment and cause trouble. He is talking a lot more. He says thank-you, CC, Nicky, Yep, No, More, Don't, Mom, Dad, and has recently started putting small sentences together. He loves to play hockey and throw a ball around. I think I will also get him skating this year.

And Nixon is sort of crawling, pulling himself around. He is VERY active which is interesting. He has already fallen down a couple stairs due to a door being left open by his brother. He loves to mimic you and will try and repeat the noises you make. He already has a sense of humor and loves his big brother and sister, who although they torment him, they also can make him giggle like no one else!


This was his first time trying pudding!! He loved it. (duh!)

And I am taking the boot camp class again every Thursday evening and I will be curling every Tuesday starting the end of the month. I have been liking the cooler weather and trying some new recipes, lasagna soup, apple cake, raspberry cheese cake cupcakes, to mention a few. I will post a few new recipes shortly. We have been trying to get some family pictures taken but with all the illness I have had to cancel twice already. We did manage to get a family picture in Winnipeg at Assiniboine park the beginning of the month but I really want some more of the kids!

Also...

2011-08-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

I had a birthday a few weeks ago...

I was very spoiled by my family... an ice cream cake, a whole box of books to read, and a date day with my hubby. It was wonderful. We had two meals away from the kids, went to the movies and saw The Help ( which was wonderful... as is the book... highly recommend both!)

This is what I have been up to, besides the regular stuff.

I set up a little sewing corner in the basement so I could put my sewing stuff out and leave it out. I have been puttering away in my spare time and loving it! This was for baby Leo... I say was because after I took this pic I got fussy and was going to go over the stitching in one corner... it got jammed in my machine and in getting it out I ripped a tiny hole in it. I was not impressed. Since then I have purchased a few more onesies that I am going to embellish for the little boys and girls in my life!

Jammie pants for the kids out of leftover flannel. These are for Reese.

Refrigerator bread and butter pickles. So easy and delicious. A good way to use some of my mountain of cukes. Recipe garnered from http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2008/08/refridgerator-bread-and-butter-pickles.html
I also have blanched, bagged and froze bags of beans, peas and lastly shredded zucchini. Next up will be our apples which are thisclose to being ready.

Where does the time go???

2011-08-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

My little girl turned 4 yesterday. 4. I can hardly believe it. It feels just like yesterday that I was bringing home my beautiful baby girl from the hospital.

We celebrated with just our family and a surprise visit from Nana & Poppa. Seeing as how I don't talk a whole lot on here anymore about Reese I thought I would put a few points about my dear girl down here.

Reese Lily:
Age 4

Favorite TV shows: Curious George, Caillou
Favorite Toys: Baby dolls, Polly Pockets, puzzles and books
Favorite Foods: Cheese, yogurt, corn on the cob, apples, pears, plums, ranch dip, bologna sandwiches
Favorite Books: Curious George, Olivia
Favorite Activities: Playing outside, helping in the garden, riding her bike, brushing her teeth
Least Favorite Activities: Cleaning up her toys, washing her hair, getting her hair combed
Best Qualities( so far): Gentle with her baby brother, Loving, Smart, Independent and Determined
Worst Qualities ( so far): Impatient, A little hot headed, Independent & Determined!

We love you baby girl!! Happy Birthday!

July roundup

2011-08-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Summer days have been wonderful. This is the best summer I have had in awhile and me and the kids have been living outside as much as we can. We had a few fun things happen in July... my nephew's 3rd birthday party, a new nephew born, a family trip to Grand Forks, a family gathering with Scott's family, pool parties with our new, bigger, much improved blow up pool, and a few other impromptu get togethers and day trips here and there.

Amongst all of the fun we've also been getting some work done around here and the yard and garden are looking really good. We have an amazing crop of potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, zuchinni and now cucumbers coming. I've managed to freeze a fair bit of the beans and peas and the rest we have been enjoying fresh. I was also able to buy some fresh berries at the farmer market last weekend and made a batch of strawberry saskatoon jam. Mmmm.

Hope that everyone else is enjoying their summer as much as we are!!

What we've been up to... in photos

2011-07-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

And also a Black Keys concert, a shopping afternoon with the girls, dinner on the patio at Carlos & Murphy's with a margarita, and a night on a patio with spiced rum & cokes.

This was my fave from the concert....

And tomorrow we have the Matz's from Regina and the Biberdorf's from Rapid City for a fun filled chiropractor night and day. I'm planning on grilled steak and shrimp, corn on the cob, greek salad, and baked potatoes for supper. Watermelon and smores for dessert. And a boozy strawberry limeade for a cocktail... this is a new one for me and involves a simple syrup infused with mint from my garden!! I will post the recipe later.

Tootles!!

Weekend Craziness

2011-06-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend was absolutely crazy!!!
It actually all started last Wednesday evening... I got my hair done. This took from 6 -10... which sounds crazy but she is a friend and we visit so its all good. Thursday evening I had my cardio class. Friday I had my mom lined up to watch the kids so I could golf with the girls in a golf tourney. It was a shot gun start at 1 and the rain started at 12:59. Which sucked but we still golfed all 18 holes and got completely soaked! And maybe over compensated with a few too many drinks... I got home at 4 in the morning! YIKES.

Ready to golf! ( in my size 6 shorts!!!!!!)


WET!! (I missed the memo that we were taking the rain ponchos off!)

Needless to say I didn't make it to my in-laws the next day for Father's Day. How irresponsible... I felt terrible. So me and Morgan went to Brandon and bought Scott a 46" flat screen t.v. and HDPVR for fathers day. What a surprise when he got home!! ahaha. We were going to buy a new t.v. right away anyway and the timing just seemed right. Plus it is always a great idea to make big decisions when you are hungover right?? It has only been up for a few days now but I am loving the PVR.

Sunday we went to mom and dads for fathers day. The kids had a great time shooting Nana with their water guns I brought along. It was a great day!

We started Nixon on baby cereal on Sunday and he seems to really love it. He's only 5 months old but we started earlier than the recommended 6 months with the other 2 and they are fine. I was hopeful he would sleep a little better on it but that has not been the case.

Hope that you all had a great weekend and spoiled all the wonderful men in your lives!!!

Things I am coveting

2011-06-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

New beautiful tea towels.

Doily earrings.

Pretty necklace.

New pretty throw cushions for the couch ( once our new floor is down.) I will have pics.

Black leggings.... ever since I saw your 80's picture Corina!!

Another pair of skinny jeans for fall... I'm kinda loving the ones I have.

I love this maxi dress... but not sure if it would make me look preggers?? At this point that would be very very very bad!!

A couple new water bottles.

This book.

Now all I have to do is drop some hints to the hubby for my birthday in August!!

Monday Love

2011-06-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

I love that Reese calls hooks, hookers. "Can you stay and snuggle for as many hookers as I have on my wall Mom?", "What is that hooker on dad's tractor for Mom?"... makes me laugh so much I don't want to correct her.

Tostitos Artisan Chips... I've only had the Roasted Garlic and Black Bean ones so far but they were awesome.

I had a productive weekend and finished it off with a delicious barbecue meal of ribs, potato salad, taco salad and tiger bars for dessert.

Reese and I went to the fair on Friday with Uncle Momo and had a fantastic day. We ate so much junk, went on all the kiddie rides ( some even twice), saw Doodles the clown and won a stuffed animal for each of the kids.

That Reese calls riding her bigger bike, riding her hot Chevy. Not sure where she got it from but it cracks me up every time.

I am slowly going crazy

2011-06-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

Nope. No better sleep last night.

9

11

4

6:30

We're off to the last pre-school party. Moms are to stay... which means we're all staying. This could be interesting. I will miss my Wednesday morning breaks.

Quick update

2011-06-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Public Health visit today. No needles as Nixie has baby Roseola. I have been wondering what's been going on with him... fever, irritable, lack of appetite and finally the rash showed up yesterday. I wasn't freaked out as both the other two had this as well. Oddly enough once the rash appears they are usually feeling a bit better and that seems to be the case this time as well. Here's hoping for a better nights sleep tonight. We did get weighed though and he is only 16 lbs. I say only because a brief look back tells me that Sully was 23 1/2lbs... INSANE. I always knew he was big but seriously???? Nixie is the same size as Reese was which is pretty hilarious to me. But he never sits still already... he does this weird wiggle thing.

That's all for tonight... I'll leave you with this little nugget

THINGS OF NOTE:

2011-06-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Oops... caps on. ahaha.

So this week... what did I do. Oh yeah I ran 5 km on Sunday!!!! And I am still super pumped about it. My only real goals with it were to a) show up on time and b) run the whole thing. And I did both. The first a little too well actually. Nixon decided to wake up at 5 for his feeding and I was going to get up in 45 minutes anyway so we just got up. AT 5 IN THE MORNING. Yuck. But seriously the anticipation and the excitement in the air was awesome. I am so doing this again!

The evidence:

And for the record I cursed every single one of our 14 stairs the next day... every single time I climbed them.

The rest of the week has been spent getting ready for our garage sale tomorrow, working at the golf course and protecting our house and yard from the absolutely ridiculous weather we have been having. A 6 foot square chunk of our roof is now being protected by a large piece of plastic and last night when we got an inch of rain in 10 minutes, I was a little bit freaked. Not to mention the couple hundred dollars of plants, shrubs and trees I haven't got planted that I have been trying to shelter from the regular beatings. Have I mentioned that I am sick to death of the weather... talking about it, thinking about it... everything! I am ready to be able to walk in my garden and pull some weeds, see if everything is coming up and just enjoy it in general.

Last night my curling team of 6 ladies went out for supper. We had an awesome time out and I enjoyed a wonderful meal of prime rib, seafood and a couple paralyzers. Yum. And when I got home all of the kids were in bed, Nixon had sucked back 4 ounces of formula and half of the yard was mowed. Have I mentioned my hubby is pretty awesome. And Nixon slept from 9 till 5 so I have decided I'm leaving every night!!

I am making Reese cookies to sell at the garage sale, then going to try and finish the mowing after lunch, and a meeting at 5:30. Then get everything ready for tomorrow morning's garage sale. Busy day!!

Weekend News

2011-05-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend was another busy one around here. Saturday I spent the whole day at the golf course trying ( and failing) to get caught up. I'm really enjoying the work out there but to be honest am a little overwhelmed trying to secure someone to watch the kids and get out there.

Sunday Scott had work to do so I packed the kids up and took them to mom and dads for the day. We had a pretty lazy, rainy day out there.

Yesterday we were planning on going for a States run to pick up the mail and maybe go to Super Walmart but then we decided to go to Minot instead. It started out a little rocky with the kids in the van, I thought we weren't going to make it there, but we did. We had a lovely (??) lunch at McDonald's where the kids thoroughly enjoyed their happy meals. Then we hit the mall for 3 hours to just hang out. After a treat of Cold Stone ice cream, yum, we packed up and headed home. It was a pretty full day but we had fun. Everybody got a few little treats and the one guilty pleasure I returned home with was Chelsea Handler's new book, Lie That Chelsea Handler Told Me. We have been watching her show Chelsea Lately on E! lately and I've become a little obsessed.

We're still having issues with Nixon taking the bottle. Friday I finally got him to eat about 2 1/2 ounces and I was over the moon. Naturally I celebrated with a large glass of wine ; -) He usually just screams and sometimes gnaws on the nipple, and we have dumped 2 ounces in him before, but this was the first time he actually latched on and sucked it down. I had to bounce around the kitchen with him but still a small victory. Of course he hasn't done it since. Boo.

Next Sunday is our 5 km run. I have a feeling it isn't going to be pretty. Try as I may it has been difficult to find time to train. I'm still going to my class but finding time to go for a run has been extremely hard. Oh well, I'm going to squeeze in a few runs this week and pray for the best!!

Now, on to the pictures!

The riding boots I bought a little while back! LOVE!

Devil child! With his new haircut.

Growing so fast!

Tiny boy!

Tulips from my garden.

Dog napping while his nemesis plots against him on the other side of the tree.

I caught them watching Curious George like this one morning.

Enjoying the great outdoors!

Tuesday

2011-05-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was crazy. I made cinnamon rolls (which were delicious!) in the morning. Went to work in the afternoon thanks to the in-laws coming and watching the kids. Got home at 4:30 and made meatloaf (FIL's favorite), mashed potatoes and corn for supper. Went out and planted the whole garden that was freshly tilled and just looking oh so pretty. I got a little more ambitious this year seeing as how I'm not pregnant and planted corn, potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and watermelon. All I have left are my tomato and pepper plants, herbs and some flowers for color. Can't wait to see some green start poking through!!

We have been having issues getting Nixon to take a bottle. I started a week and a half ago giving him a bottle a day. I guess I slacked off and he hadn't been having one very often, well now he has decided that he will have none of that. I fight with him for at least an hour every time and now wait for Scott to come home and do it. Today Scott fought with him for 2 hours, can you say scream-a-thon, and finally got him to take 2 ounces. BRUTAL! I was trying to get him to take formula and breast milk mixed but have since just been trying to get him to take a bottle with straight boob juice. Either way, he hates it and screams his little fool head off.
I guess I might be nursing longer than I originally planned???

Tonight while Scott was bathing Reese and I was feeding Nixon and putting him down upstairs, Sully was awfully quiet. I came down and found him in the fridge with a cheese slice chewed and mangled through the plastic and some weird substance which I later identified as taco soup on his chin. What a kid! We have also learned that he is terrified of dogs. We have been out a lot lately and he always keeps an eye on the dog. He walks around saying,"Bow Wow, No" and if the dog gets to close he screams. It's strangely entertaining especially on those days he's driving me crazy.

Weekend News

2011-05-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend was crazy... actually starting last week was crazy. Thursday I went into Brandon, flood zone, to pick up my new flooring. To catch everybody up, it has been a pretty big debate around here actually. We have original hardwood floors in our house. Normally this would make me swoon except that they are in really rough condition. Like think slivers and wood chips kind of condition. It is a dark cherry wood and all of our furniture is very dark also. Our plan is to pick up our house and move it within 5 years. So I wanted to put new hardwood floors but Scott informed me that our current floor is not level, so when we move it and straighten it out the floors would likely buckle. Not a chance I wanted to take after spending some dollars on nice hardwood. So my next suggestion in project save our feet was laminate. I'm not sold on laminate either but it is a lot cheaper, looks nice, is easy to clean, durable and best of all I can pick it up and move it to our basement once we do the big lift. Sold. I chose a really light maple that does not match our trim boards but I think it will contrast and compliment it. Now I wait until after seeding when I can get a crew to help Scott install it. Can't wait.
Saturday we went to mom and dads to help vaccinate cattle and Reese wanted to stay for a sleep party. We gladly left her there overnight and yesterday with the beautiful weather, we worked our butts off. We had all of the grass cut by lunch. I got groceries and washed the van, cleaned the van, trimmed the hedge, transplanted the perennials, mapped out my new flower bed and had BBQ supper. It was awesome to get so much done but I was exhausted.

This week is going to be lovely weather so I want to get everything planted and enjoy the great outdoors!

What smells so good?

2011-05-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

Just made these toffee squares

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/cleta-baileys-toffee-squares/

and boy does it smell good in here. I topped them with skor bits rather than chopped pecans as the kiddies aren't fond of nuts. Yummo.

I also have a roast in the oven with a package of onion soup mix and the jury's still out on what will accompany this for supper.

Funny now that there is at least a foot of snow on the ground to think that I actually worked up a couple of flower beds this week. My tulips are (were?) all at least 6 inches out of the ground and a good number of my perennials were up too. I put all my moon rays out and was thinking of getting Scott to till the garden. ARGH. I am so done with winter.

Update

2011-04-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

Not sure why I haven't posted recently.... I guess we've been busy.
Last week the kids were gone Monday and Tuesday was a rest day. Wednesday we had pre-school, which is finally going great! Thursday they had the pre-school wellness fair in town and Reese and I went in the morning. They had dietitians, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, hearing and eye checks, and we were to go to every station. Reese wasn't so sure about it at first but she opened up and did great.
Thursday night was my cardio blast class and I think I did better this week. I was only a wee bit stiff Friday and Saturday as opposed to hardly being able to walk last week!
Friday night my little brother came out and stayed with us so that Saturday morning we could get up early and got to Winnipeg without the older two. He did an amazing job watching them and we had a great day in Winnipeg... me shopping and Scott ripping out walls at his brothers. I bought a couple shirts for myself from RW& Co. Love that store.

I finally looked into getting a lady to watch the kids for me every so often to help me out so I think she's coming out one afternoon next week. Can't wait. Tomorrow I am heading out to the golf course to do some work while Scott is off for the holiday.

Should be a busy but wonderful Easter weekend. I have the eggs on the stove boiling to dye. This is a first for me but it should be good!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Monday Monday

2011-04-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Today is going to be a great day. It is going to be at least +10 today and I have only one wee baby. HAHAHA. Only one wee baby. I already have 3 loads of laundry done, 2 cups of hot coffee in my belly, house vacuumed and dusted, internet surfing done, all while watching HGTV.... no cartoons today here folks!

In a little bit we are heading to town to get Easter treats for the kids, the mail, groceries, the van washed and then lunch with Scott.

This afternoon I'm going to go for a walk, bath Nixon and make cookies. Then maybe sit for a little bit before making supper for Grandma and Grandpa and the returned (hopefully exhausted) children.

It's going to be a super day!!

Oh... and Corina, the Social Network was ho hum. Neither Scott nor I thought it lived up to the reviews that I had heard about it. Honestly I thought Tangled was a better movie.

Here are the kids enjoying their pizza party Friday night.... mom and dad were at the table sipping wine and having adult conversation!!

Friday night

2011-04-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday both of the boys got their needles. Scott came along to help me and they both did great!! Sully is still our little tank weighing in over 34 lbs. Off the charts since the beginning for that boy. And Nixon is my tiny boy. He was 13lbs 14 oz. Which is more in line with Reese's size. My back very much appreciates that he is smaller than his brother.

Last night was my first cardio blast night and it kicked me in the butt! I was expecting it to be hard and it did not disappoint. We did lots of lunges and squats, skipping, pushups, planks, and work on the Bosu ball and balance board. My legs are not enjoying our stairs right now. But I'm excited, it should be a great class.

Tonight we're going to have a pizza party in front of the t.v. I rented Tangled for the kids and The Social Network for us later. Scott is picking us up a bottle of wine and it should be a nice relaxing Friday night.

Have a great weekend!

Look Mom...

2011-04-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

I wrote Reese on my forehead.

If I were a smart woman...

2011-03-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

I would have bought shares in Sun-Rype when I had my kids. They drink a lot of juice. I don't know how it happened but somewhere along the way they quit drinking milk and water on me and went straight for the juice. And we all know that once you get the taste for juice who wants plain old boring milk?

Well I am on a mission this week to cut way back on juice. Yesterday they were only allowed one sippy cup each of juice ALL DAY! This is a big thing and we had a few mini meltdowns because of it. Granted the milk that they did drink I put a squirt of chocolate Nesquik in but still, I think its a baby step in the right direction.

We have had a busy week this week. On Monday I became an auntie again to a big boy, 9 lb, 2 oz and 23 1/2 inches long. I got to go Monday evening with Nixon to see baby Brennyn and get my baby fix. Something about being in the hospital with newborns all around makes me kind of sad that we are done. Which is crazy as Nixon is only 2 1/2 months old for cripes sake. I might be going off the deep end.

On Tuesday, Nana, Poppa, Uncle MoMo and I took all my kids and Mac to the fair. It was an exhausting day but the kids seemed to enjoy it. We missed Doodles the clown and the Superdog show but the kids were quite happy at the petting zoo and watching the horse jumping. We got our fix of mini doughnuts, cotton candy and popcorn and were home by supper time, all tuckered out and ready for bed!

Nixon with Auntie Pam

Corina and her sweet boy Sawyer!

Sawyer chillin in his chair

My precious boy!

The kids (minus Nixon) at the fair

I am still doing well with my exercising and eating (fairly) healthy and after 2 1/2 months am only one stubborn pound away from being at my pre-pregnancy weight! To celebrate this momentous occasion I made cinnamon raisin french toast with strawberries and blueberries for breakfast! Next week I start my interval class and my jogging program if the roads stay dry. 2 months to the 5K. Can't wait!

Monday Love

2011-03-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

I love that when Sullivan was having a freak out this morning, Reese who was coloring at the table seemingly oblivious, said, "just take a deep breath Sully". I wonder if she's heard that a few times???

Love the new Rascal Flatts song, I Won't Let Go. Just heard it on the radio.

Love that I should be getting my Gap order in the mail today.

Love that I am taking the kids to the fair tomorrow with my mom and dad. 3 on 3. The only way to go. ha ha.

Love that I am going to be an auntie again any day now.

Love that I got to try snowshoeing this weekend. So much fun. Now I am wanting to buy my own pair.

Love that I got to meet the newest Lepp, little Sawyer. So precious!

Love that I got to see my favorite girls (and their families!) this weekend. It was so much fun to get together with our families.

Love that I got to have a couple glasses of wine with my girls while the dads made us lunch.

Happy Monday!!!!

Just Another Manic Monday...

2011-03-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Things I have accomplished today:

4 loads of laundry
A bunch of errands in town with 3 kids in tow ( and one screaming the whole time! - Oh Nixon how I wish that you would embrace your car seat)
A phone call I was dreading, turning down another book keeping job. ( Which was volunteer... I just don't have the time or energy for anything that doesn't pay me right now)
A couple of emails in regards to the job that I do have
Registering for a boot camp that starts in a couple weeks
Exercising on the bike plus situps and pushups
Currently making meatballs for supper

After supper tonight I have to go and do a report for work and I am looking forward to getting out of the house. I am enjoying my little job so far and have already found some areas that I can make some improvements.

I'm looking forward to getting my hair done Wednesday evening and seeing the Lepp's and Wilton's on Sunday!!

Smiles!

2011-03-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love that he smiles with his whole face!!!

A few morsels

2011-03-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to quickly share a couple recipes I tried recently.

I was so sick of soup with our sandwiches at lunch that I threw together this little salad as a side dish. It will be awesome in the summer with barbecue!

Faux Taco Salad:

Shredded lettuce
Chopped cucumbers
Grape tomatoes, halved
Shredded cheddar cheese
Toss with catalina dressing, and top with plain corn chips immediately before serving. Yum.
( You also could add corn, green onions, avocado and even black beans if you had them on hand)

I also tried this little recipe from Jayesel for slow cooker chicken taco soup. I had roasted a chicken last week and just used chopped up leftover chicken meat. I also cooked mine on the stove in a dutch oven, added 2 packs of taco seasoning for more kick, and added a can of black beans I had in the cupboard. I topped mine with grated cheese and plain corn chips. This ate like a meal and went over well with the whole family!

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Things making me smile on a Monday morning

2011-03-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

* CC singing a song about tequila sheila and talking about a drinking show after spending a couple hours with dad this weekend.
* Sully singing "elmoooooooo" repeatedly
* Nixon smiling and cooing at me first thing this morning
* 2 cups of WARM coffee this morning
* A shopping day yesterday with the whole family
* A Starbucks caramel macchiato on the way home shared with my baby daddy while the kids all slept peacefully all the way home.
* Only getting up once last night at 4
* Only having to be up for 15 glorious minutes and then promptly falling back asleep
* Snuggling in bed this morning with CC, looking at my latest US Weekly magazine and her asking me which dress I like the best off of each page.
* Looking forward to vegging on the couch and watching The Bachelor finale tonight.
* A weather forecast that is above 0 all week!! We might actually come out of hibernation!

WOW, that's pretty good for a Monday morning! Happy Monday to everyone!

#2

2011-03-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

1. Run 5km.
~~2. Make a curry dish from scratch.~~
3. Watch all of the Godfather movies.
4. Attain my goal weight ( Be healthy and strong)
~~5. Simplify my wardrobe and give away everything I no longer wear~~
6. Try to eat fresh, healthy foods (And grow them in our garden if possible)
7. Take a family trip
~~8. Purchase an apron~~
9. Go on a picnic
~~10. Buy and wear skinny jeans~~

I made Curried Coconut Chicken Wednesday night. It was relatively simple ( after I replaced my expired coconut milk!) and Scott and I both enjoyed it. It was my first curry experience and I would rate it a success! I served it over Basmati rice alongside an arugula salad.

Curried Coconut Chicken

Thankful

2011-03-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a good day! Even though I had two pretty crabby children who tried me, I still felt like we had a decent day.

~My mom and dad were here for the day because they are getting new flooring in their new kitchen.
~I made a meatloaf supper with mashed potatoes and peas and peanut butter cake for dessert.
~I was able to run to town and do a few errands (some work related**)without kids.
~I talked to Corina on the phone and felt so happy after. I feel so lucky to have such great friends and such a great support system in place for all of my parenting dilemmas!
~I sold some of my maternity clothes and made $100 easy bucks.

** I got a job doing books for our local golf course at the end of last year. I started the beginning of January but it is a super slow time until Spring. Even then it will be just casual and flexible hours. It will be nice to get out and exercise my brain plus make a little spending money for new clothes!!

I will leave you with a picture of my little sugar muffin.

Oh and not sure if I've posted this yet but Nixon is smiling. For about a week now. It is so cute and I will try and get a picture of it!

Here we go

2011-02-28T12:40:00.001-08:00

Just did 5 miles of hills on the bike, followed by some crunches and push ups!
First real work out since baby!

10 by 30

2011-02-25T07:58:00.000-08:00

Last years plans to achieve this list did not go quite as expected, so I have revived it and plan to have another go.

1. Run 5km.
2. Make a curry dish from scratch.
3. Watch all of the Godfather movies.
4. Attain my goal weight ( Be healthy and strong)
~~5. Simplify my wardrobe and give away everything I no longer wear~~
6. Try to eat fresh, healthy foods (And grow them in our garden if possible)
7. Take a family trip
~~8. Purchase an apron~~
9. Go on a picnic
~~10. Buy and wear skinny jeans~~

I have already done a few of these things as you can see but I have a few left to do.

I just finished #5. I had tubs and tubs of clothes in the basement. Admittedly I have not lost all of my baby weight yet, and some may think ( including hubby) that it was too early to go through my clothes, but once I got going I realized that some things were 5-10 years old. Pants were too short waisted for my new body, shorts too short, and styles that I will never wear again. So four over sized garbage bags went out this past weekend. How liberating. Now I can start to rebuild my wardrobe once I get back in shape!

I purchase my apron last summer in Minneapolis and it is yellow and bright and I love it. Someday when I am feeling decent for the camera I will snap some photographic evidence for the blog.

The skinny jeans, I have bought and wore once before I got pregnant but they have remained in my closet and will be worn again.

#1 - I registered yesterday for the 5K run and will start training, although likely inside on the bike to get started, next week.

There it is. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Mommy Brain

2011-02-24T07:59:00.000-08:00

This post is so named because I can think of nothing else.

I am in a fog lately and I can't even really blame the baby. Nixon has been sleeping so awesome since his second week home. Most nights I get to sleep from 10 till 6 ish. This is awesome. But I am still tired. The other two are exhausting me, and to make it worse I now have a cold. UGH. I am so done with sickness.
In spite of Nixon being a very easy baby, we are having some behavior issues with the other two. I expected an adjustment period, but I have to say I kind of hoped they would be over it by now. Sullivan is into everything, and addicted to the remote and the tv. He will throw a fit if it isn't on the right cartoon for him. It's brutal. He has also started biting his sister as of late. And Reese, let's just say the tantrums are horrendous. She can take a small problem and turn it into an hour long screaming, pulling out hair fight.

Anyway, on to something else.

I have otherwise been doing okay. I have about 9 more pounds to lose to get to my pre-Nixon weight. Which is good, I still have the baby pooch but with more exercise that should start to go away. I would ideally like to lose an additional 5 pounds but I am going to just start with the 9. I am planning on running the 5K I didn't get to do last year due to morning sickness, and I'm pretty pumped about it! I can't wait to get moving more. I usually wait until the 6 week post baby mark to really get exercising again. Don't want to overdo it.

I have been cooking up a storm also. I tried a new tuna casserole recipe that is from scratch, meaning it doesn't use canned soup. It was okay, but a lot of work to basically taste the same as the canned soup variety. This Sunday we roasted a chicken and with the leftovers I made a pot pie. It was delicious! I will definitely be using this recipe again. Monday morning I made a batch of waffles for breakfast and they were awesome. And yesterday I made another batch of Gramma's caramel corn to watch the big curling game with. Yummy.

Waffles:

2 eggs - split out yolks from whites
2 cups flour
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp. b powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix everything EXCEPT the egg whites in a large bowl. IN seperate bowl beat the whites until fluffy. Fold into main mixture.

Cook in waffle iron until golden brown and delicous!!

Nixon and moi! A rare picture!

2 weeks old, in his car seat and not real happy about it.

About a month old here

Now I'm off to make a Rice Krispie cake.
And I have now officially registered for the 5K!!!

Tootles.

Ahem...

2011-02-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

So, it's been awhile.

We had a baby. ha ha. He's doing well. He's a great sleeper and has been giving me at least 3-4 hour stretches at night. I"m still exhausted but am trying not to complain as it could be sooo much worse. I took Nixon for his two week check up yesterday and everything is good. I have been a bit concerned because he sporadically throws up. It seems like about every couple days he will just barf all over me. Super weird but they weighed him yesterday and he is up to 9 lbs 9 oz. So healthy as a horse. Not quite as big as his brother which is kind of nice for my back. I've been strictly nursing him and have even got quite a reserve of pumped milk in the freezer. He is a much kinder nurser than his brother was and for that I am grateful.

In the meantime we have been the house of illness this winter. And it has been so frightfully cold that we have been hibernating a lot. In other words, I can't wait for Spring. Again Monday Sullivan was sick with a flu and now this morning my stomache is sore and so is Reese's. Sucky.

We did manage to get Sullivan's new room done prior to Nixon's arrival and I'm quite happy with it. It's tiny but cute. He made the transition really well and is loving his new big boy room. Since its completion he has ripped all of the stickies off of the wall behind the crib.

So day to day is how we have been functioning. So far we're surviving. It's still all so worth it though, even at 4 in the morning when I'm nursing Nixon and he is staring up at me with those big bright eyes. I'm in love again. Our family is now complete and as much as it makes me sad, I'm so excited that I get to be a mom to these 3 perfect little humans!

Dates, Doctors and Renos

2010-12-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

Holidays are over and it's back to the grind. Scott is off at noon today though and not working Monday so that will be nice.

We worked hard through and around the holidays and by Tuesday Sullivan's new room was pretty much complete so we decided to take our final date day for quite some time I predict. Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids for the day and we went to Brandon. We went to the new Mexican place (so so) and then to a matinee of True Grit. Awesome movie!! Best movie both of us have seen in a long time. Then we had a bit of time to go to Home Depot and pick up some final finshers for the room and then out to the Double Decker for supper. We were home in time to put the kids to bed and for mama to be in bed early too. Funny how your dates change as you get older.

Thursday I had a doctors appointment. They were running late again and I had to wait for an hour, but once again I was childless and had brought a book along so not all that bad. I am now 38 1/2 weeks. The heart rate was slower this time - about 137. I only had gained 2 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks over Christmas (What the??). The baby is still head down. And she figures that it won't be as big as at least the last one. Thank goodness. I am measuring about 36-37 and should have been about 38 1/2. She checked me and nothing is happening yet but this is not surprising as nothing ever did with the other two either. She figures I won't be early but probably right around my date. We will see.

Scott is off this afternoon and will be putting the finishing touches on the room. After that I will post pics. Pam and Jer are coming for a visit this afternoon. The rest of our New Years plans involve spaghetti supper and maybe a movie on the couch.

In half of his Christmas Eve jammies and antlers of course!

Her Christmas eve jammies. The girl loves Curious George!

36 Weeks

2010-12-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Drum roll please....

36 weeks. And looking very happy about it.

The new trick is to push the potty around and get an extra 6 inches of height.

Scott getting super weird/ goofy pictures of both of them. I have NO normal pictures of Reese for months now.

At my doctor appointment yesterday she told me that the baby had flipped and was head down. YAY. And she isn't there next week, so while I am supposed to be going every week now, I have managed with the holidays to skip one and am just going on the 30th instead. YAY!

Pineapple

2010-11-25T13:10:00.000-08:00

The baby is the size of a pineapple now. Feels more like a small elephant when it gets moving this way and that but I guess a pineapple is close.

We have all been sick. I figured out today that I haven't left the house since last Thursday. A whole week... housebound. Yikes! We are venturing out for dance in an hour though so that will break the streak. Let me tell you having the flu at 33 weeks pregnant is awful. Absolutely awful. My body hasn't been that sore since I had Sullivan. I lost 3 pounds in 2 days. I'm finally on the rebound though and so is everyone else. No one escaped unscathed.

We are having major issues with Reese and pooping. It's been very stressful and has affected everything, including her eating habits, her sleeping habits and her social skills. Needless to say we went to the doctor this week regarding it and she did nothing. To a person who has to endure her child screaming and yelling while trying to hold her poop in for 6 - 7 days it has been frustrating. She has referred us to a pediatrician and though we will likely have to wait a couple months to get in, at least I am hopeful that if this is still going on, there might be a slight glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

Needless to say that with all of this going on, we have become reclusive. Short of the activities that are necessary, such as preschool ( which is questionable at best) and dance (which she loves), we haven't been going anywhere. I miss the play groups and seeing our friends. I am hoping that things turn around here shortly and we can get back to at least some of these things.

The room is progressing very slowly. With all of us getting sick it has delayed us yet again. Also, as party of the reno, there was an old chimney that ran through that room and down into the kitchen from the attic. We figured that now was the time to remove it, but was it ever a big, dirty job. (Not that I did any of it, but still, I cleaned up the after effects!) So we are now waiting till this weekend to finish demolishing the rest of the walls, framing in the closet and then hanging all of the dry wall. After that, we are getting someone in to mud and tape for us and then I can paint and Scott can lay the new carpet down. All before Christmas (said with fingers crossed). I will try and take some pictures of it now, which is mid demo, and then when we are done so you can see the transformation.

This morning, I finished my Christmas shopping. Scott and I always do online lists and then just go there for everything. Simple. Half an hour and I was done. What better way to spend a blustery day. A chicken is in the oven roasting for supper and we just finished decorating the tree! Small things to enjoy!

Christmas

2010-11-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

So Christmas is coming and with that so is our baby. I have 7 1/2 weeks left. YIKES, where did the time go? I had my doctors appointment and short of retaining some fluid everything went great! My thyroid tested good, the babys heart rate was strong and I measured exactly where I was supposed to. And my doctor told me that my baby wasn't going to be huge! YAY. I did the sugar test ( a couple weeks late I think, oops) and was still out of there in an hour. It was awesome.

Scott has the room ripped apart and my little brother is coming to get some more done on it this weekend. It's looking more like Sully might not be moving until Christmas but anytime before January will be ok. I want to find the tubs with the itty bitty baby things and pull out the neutral items and get them washed up and ready.

I am basically done Christmas shopping except for Scott, which will all be done online shortly. My Christmas cards will be here on the weekend, so I can start addressing them and get them out beginning of December. I am making a lasagna to freeze to eat on Christmas Eve. And I am going to start Christmas baking next week. My question is what does everybody make for Christmas baking?? I love to try new things but always make nuts and bolts (which isn't baking, but still) and shortbread. I'm also going to make caramel corn this year for Scott. I organized my recipes this week and came across my gramma's recipe and she was a great cook.

I am still curling and that is going ok. Not sure if I'll make it till the middle of December though. I find at the end of the day my body is sore and tired. If I try and take it easy all day it is bearable but we'll see how long I can go.

Well I guess I better go change a diaper as Reese is yelling at her brother that he stinks to high heaven. Gotta love her.

Spirit

2010-10-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

I was having difficulties with Reese and came across an article in a Parents magazine that was talking about "spirited" children. Well I almost cried when I read some of the examples they gave and then they suggested this book for additional reading:

http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Your-Spirited-Child-Rev/dp/0060739665/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288362240&sr=8-1

I was in Brandon on Monday, saw it and immediately bought it. I am so glad I did.

I can't even begin to explain what I was feeling before but maybe just that I didn't understand my little first born. I am only about 1/3 of the way in and already I feel that now when she is doing something that used to make me mad I am now analyzing why she might be doing it. Last night I was reading about introverts versus extroverts and I realized that she is an introvert like her daddy and I am most definitely an extrovert. This means that in order for to get her energy and not completely melt down she needs to have time alone interspersed throughout the day. She also needs more personal space, uninterrupted work time and time for reflection. I was relaying this info on to Scott later last night and we began to see why when we plan big days and weekends with family why it usually ends with a major melt down and tears for both of us. I also realized that she does not adapt easily or take well to new things. These are not terrible things, but just things I need to help her learn how to deal with in ways that are socially acceptable. It is not okay to hit Grandma because she is in your space and you have had too much stimulation... but if I can teach her to take a break when she needs one we can work on it together.

I on the other hand being an extrovert also need things. Above all this means time with people... and this doesn't mean little people. I also need feedback and people to help me work out problems. After reading about this I not only understand Reese a little more, but also Scott. We are complete opposites and sometimes I don't understand why he has to go to his shop every night and be away from us. But being an introvert he needs that time to recharge his batteries. This is also why I need to still have my own activities that take me out of the house and into group activities with other adults.

Basically all this blathering on is just to say that I am currently in love with this book. I am having about 5 "A-HA" moments a day right now reading it. A definite must have for those with a "spirited" child and a good read for every parent.

TGIF and Happy Halloween!!!

Update

2010-10-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

I am 28 1/2 weeks pregnant. The baby is now the size of a Chinese cabbage which I had to google to find out looks like this:

I am feeling pretty good. The cold is almost gone. The tailbone is bearable again. And I am still exhausted.. which I'm sure is normal for a pregnant mother of 2!

Reese has had 3 dance lessons and seems to be enjoying them. We still have some issues with me not being in the gym with her (just outside the door isn't quite good enough apparently) but we are making head way.

Reese had her first day of preschool today. I dropped her off and when she ran off I left. Then on the stairs I heard, "I want Mommy". I kept going and cried for 15 minutes. Once I recovered I sat watching the clock waiting for the 2 and a half hours till it was time to go pick her up... all the time hoping that she was having fun. When I picked her up she just wanted to leave immediately. She didn't tell me what she did or anything, just get me out of here. We had planned to go out for lunch to celebrate her first day and we did, but boy was she grumpy. After we got home she laid on the couch and watched cartoons for 45 minutes. After that she seems to be doing a lot better. Happier for sure. So not sure what that means, but the teacher said she was good except for shouting out for mommy once in a while and not wanting to keep her shoes on. So I guess it was a success. We'll see how it goes next week.

Some snaps of the kids Thanksgiving weekend.

Reese likes to do this pirate face now. She says "Argh, I'm a pirate".

Tonight we have a preschool meeting and toy cleaning. So that is what I will be doing, rather than watching the ball game and Survivor on my couch in my comfy pants.

Funky Monkey

2010-10-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

I am in a bit of a funk right now.

I have a headache, a cold with a nasty cough for 2 weeks now, and my tail bone issue which still makes getting up from sitting pretty painful. Oh and did I mention that every time I cough it hurts my tail bone....

Normally this wouldn't get me down, but then you add in two children. One that is especially spirited. I love her to pieces but I don't like the person she can make me become some days. I was actually reading a Parents magazine a month ago and came across an article that talked about raising a spirited child. It fit her a to a tee, and it made me feel better to read about other children that fight to wear shorts on a winter day only to take them off 2 minutes later. I don't like that she can get me so agitated that I have to lock myself in a seperate room for 5 minutes and do deep breathing techniques. I don't like that I say things that I thought I would never say to my child. I don't like that at the end of the day sometimes I just can't be around her for a while.

This mothering thing is hard. And I'm scared to think about how I am going to handle 3 kids in January.

Dancing, doctors, painting, movies, and a sore butt

2010-10-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Reese's first dance class, she looked so cute. She did not want me to leave though, so I spent the class by the door where she could see me. I'm hoping that as she gets more familiar with it that I can leave the room.

Thursday evening I gave Sullivan a hair cut. This is him post hair cut. Much better than the shaggy sheep dog he was before.

The weekend started on Friday with a doctors appointment. WHICH SUCKED! First off I was up for 2 hours Thursday night, watching tv because I couldn't sleep. Then I had to see a different doctor and I did not like him at all. I had to wait for 2 hours (BOO). 2 trips to the lab (BOO). 4 lb weight gain in a month (YAY!). Anterior placenta (BOO), which really isn't that big of a deal but the way he communicated it to me was poor. He told me not to let my other 2 kids jump on me or play too rough as my placenta could seperate, or rupture! Also he said that I wouldn't feel the movements the same, but I haven't noticed this. Yikes. I am measuring larger than I should be, like a week and a half (BOO). Should be measuring about 25 1/2 and was measuring 27! UGH. And yet I am smaller than I was last time, so it must just be the way I'm carrying.

Scott's mom and dad came and stayed with the kids for the day (YAY), so I didn't have to entertain them for this wonderful visit to the doctor.

Saturday I was able to finish up the painting in the porch (minus some minor touch ups), played outside with the kids, and in general had a pretty good day. Reese had set one of her little chairs behind me without my knowledge and I crouched down to paint and it cracked me right on my tailbone. This sent me into a huge crying fit and I am still a little tender sitting down today. Live and learn, always look behind you!! We had my mom and dad over for supper and then settled in and watched the Hurt Locker.

Yesterday I went to Brandon for a movie and supper with some girl friends. I got home at 8 to a clean house, 2 clean kids tucked in and asleep for the night! Ahh, bliss. It was a wonderful relaxing day! Thanks girls!

Today I am putting my porch back together again, making a batch of spaghetti sauce, doing laundry and a light cleaning downstairs. Tomorrow my mom is taking Reese for the day and I am planning to fall clean her room while my helper is gone!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Weekend

2010-09-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend turned out to be a little so-so. I woke up Friday with a cold and did very little all day Friday trying to get rid of it. Pam and Jeremy came out Friday night and I was already in bed when they got here, so that sucked. I did get a good rest and felt a bit better Saturday which was good as Scott and I dropped off the kids at my mom and dad's and went to Winnipeg for the day. Scott had some deals to make, parts to be picked up, etc, and I took the opportunity to score myself a couple long sleeved maternity shirts to get me through this last time. We had a wonderful lunch at Nikos on Corydon - I would highly recommend this place if you're craving Greek food. I found a few cheap shirts at Old Navy, grabbed a birthday present for the little brother, had a bite to eat and headed home.
Reese had decided to wait up for us and so we had a few minor issues with getting her off to bed but all in all a pretty good day.
Sunday morning, Reese punished us for getting away for a day and then we headed out to celebrate Morgan's birthday at my parents. Around supper time, I got really nauseous and felt terrible so we booked it home early and I tried to recuperate yet again.

So not sure exactly what bug I caught this weekend but today I am feeling much better. I just finished fall cleaning the living room and hope to get the third wall in the porch started yet today. I really want to get the porch done this week and tomorrow we have Step 2 for Reese in the morning and then her first dance class tomorrow afternoon. Friday I have a doctor's appointment so that doesn't leave me that much time.

That's all for now. Just waiting for the little monkey to wake up so we can head outside and enjoy this beautiful weather!!!
Happy Monday everyone..... hope you are having a great trip Corina!!

Oh... I almost forgot

2010-09-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Sullivan is kind of walking.

He likes to just stand and then has been taking upwards of 10 steps at a time. His balance is a little off but I'm sure it won't be long and he will be running!!

And the boy is a climber. Ugh.

I'm back... sorta.... maybe

2010-09-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm back at least for an update. Not sure what I want this blog to be but I am missing just sharing my day with someone. And I am loving reading Corina's blog and keeping up with her daily doings so I figure if I want to read about her day, maybe somebody wants to read about mine.

So an update:

1) I am 24 1/2 weeks pregnant. Yikes, where does the time go. Feeling alright, just tired and major arm issues. I'm not as big this time so that is nice. I am hopeful that this child will not be as hard on my back!!

2) Speaking of the little monkey... he is awesome. An awesome little dude. Happy, funny, adventurous, and no drama. I can't tell you what that is worth somedays. At his year shots he was 29 pounds (see above.. back and arm problems)!

3) The little drama queen is good also. We have been having some issues with her and not sure if it is a phase or what is going on. It seems that everything in the world is about her. I am constantly hearing, " I wants" all day long. And sleeping has been shorter all summer long. Hoping that with the shorter days and cooler weather that this straightens itself out. She is registered for nursery school, but that isn't starting till the beginning of October. And also for dance class, which starts next Tuesday. I am hoping that a little time away from each other will do us both good.

4) We had a great garden this year. I made cucumber relish, strawberry and peach jam, plum jam, spaghetti sauce and froze piles of apples. In addition we ate tons of green beans, peas, and carrots fresh. The kids really loved the garden and I love that they can learn about eating fresh, homegrown food!!

5) I have a already started Fall cleaning ( not that I do Spring cleaning.... nor did I do either Fall or Spring last year) but this year I just feel I need to get it done before number 3 arrives in January. I already have my kitchen done and have just started on the living room. IN addition I thought it would be a good idea to redo the porch (see above back and arm issues). Our porch is a crappy, ugly addition to out house, and although it is very practical and well used, it is ugly. Did I mention that it is ugly?? So I brought out the paint and a makeover is under way! It is already looking much better and that is exciting.

6) We are also going to be moving Sullivan by early December and that means completely redoing the last room in our house. Currently it is daddy's music/book/junk room and he is in the process of cleaning it out. We will need to drywall, re-insulate (100 year old house), mud, tape and paint. I will be involved in the painting and decorating portion and am torn between a jungle theme.... with blues and browns or a guitar/music theme using stripes of brown, blue, orange and green. I have to see what kind of accessories I can get before I make my final decision.

7) With all going on and only 3 1/2 months left until the next spawn of satan is born, I am feeling overwhelmed with all I want to accomplish. Once the Christmas season starts I know that nothing else will be done before the new monster arrives and that doesn't leave a ton of time.

Wow.... I guess I have missed blogging a bit!

Houston we have a problem

2010-06-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

Sullivan has started crawling!! Which is great... but not as great as when CC started crawling because we were oblivious first time parents who didn't know what exactly that entailed.
This morning, he took off after Barbie in her car and was met with a finger in his face and a very angry, "I'm going to hit you Sully". This is going to be interesting indeed.
Also he is WAY more interested in cords and drawers and doors.... must be a boy thing. I definitely need to go around and baby proof again. UGH.
Yesterday I took CC to the fair with Uncle Momo. We had a great time despite the weather. CC did really well on the rides and we ate "a lot of junk" as she put it.
Tonight I'm going to see Sex and the City 2 with some girlfriends and dinner out without kids!! This makes me more excited than I can adequately express.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Pasta wtih Tomato Sauce

2010-05-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

This recipe is so simple and so delicious. We have made this a lot since we discovered it!

1 1/2 pints grape or cherry tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
a small bunch of fresh basil
Pasta of your choice
salt and pepepr
olive oil
2 pats of butter
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
4 oz of parmesan

Cut the tomatoes in half or quarters. Slice the garlic. Chop the basil. Grate the parmesan. Or do it my way. Buy the garlic in a jar, and the parmesan already grated!

Heat fry pan over med. heat. Add a couple lugs of olive oil and the garlic. And the butter and let it melt. When garlic starts to brown, add the tomatoes. Give it a stir and add the basil, leaving some to garnish with. Add the vinegar and season with s & p. Cook your pasta.... we use capellini so it takes no time. Drain the pasta reserving some cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the frying pan with a splash of the cooking water and half of the Parmesan cheese. Give it a stir. Throw it in a serving bowl and top with the rest of the basil and Parmesan.

Done. Delish!

Here is what ours looked like the other night. Not sure if this photo does it justice but it comes fomr Jamie's Food Revolution cook book.

Garden

2010-05-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

We finally have our garden in for the year. I like to have a good variety but not tons of each thing. Scott's biggest pet peeve is that I put more than one thing in a row. But for instance, I don't want many radish, or green onions, or carrots. So I put all of these in one row.
I also planted some rhubarb (that I stole from Mom... this stuff cost ~ $17.00 for a tiny pot at the green house!) and strawberries. I also threw in some potatoes, onions, peas, green beans, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, yellow and red peppers, 3 kinds of tomatoes and corn.

Holy guacamole, I am going to be busy. CC is pretty pumped about the garden. She wants to put a chair out in it and just sit. She also asked me if we could grow hot dogs and yogurt. ha ha. I love her enthusiasm and hope this will be a great way to teach her about food and eating fresh and healthy!

I have a recipe to share coming soon ( with pictures!).

Shrimp Fajitas

2010-05-13T16:42:00.001-07:00

For supper tonight I made shrimp fajitas and they were delicious!

I just roughly "measure" things.

I started with onions, yellow pepper and olive oil. Med. to high heat pan. Added about a clove of garlic minced. Threw in the shrimp.

Then I seasoned with some paprika, chili powder and chipotle hot sauce. With about a minute left of sizzle, I added the juice of 1 lime.

Presto bango, instant supper.

We ate ours with a bit of grated cheddar, sliced avacado and some salsa verde.

Banjo

2010-05-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

Nicknames??
What's everybody's feeling on these? In Scott's family nicknames were huge. So much so that I was very confused for a long time around them. There was Josh, Crusher, and Boozie... and then both Scott's dad and their adopted Grandpa AND the dog were Dick.

As you know, Reese has been CC for a long time now. And it has stuck big time. Even at play group and the like, everybody calls her CC. That's fine, but daddy also has a set of nicknames for the kids. CC is Bunta, and Sully is Banjo... add that to Boozie and you have one left out mama. The other day they came up with one for me.... Beyoncee. ha ha.

So this morning at one of our play groups the kids were to introduce themselves and their siblings. Reese wouldn't say her name ( can you say grouchy!) but she did introduce her brother as Banjo! Everyone had a good laugh but I didn't even try and explain our nicknames... I mean how do you explain our weird little family.

Get in my belly

2010-05-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day for eating.

It started with just a simple piece of whole wheat toast with light peanut butter.

Lunch was leftover pizza with mild italian turkey sausage and fresh arugula. Yummy.

For supper we had spare ribs roasted in the oven with bbq sauce, leftover rice, steamed green beans, and sliced tomato.

Delicious!!!

A few of the items on the menu for the rest of the week are;

A pressed sandwich with bacon, spinach, mozza and tomato.

The leftover rib meat, pulled off the bones and made into some sort of a pulled pork sandwich... possibly in a whole wheat pita???

Pasta with chicken and sun-dried tomato cream sauce.

What's everyone else eating this week????

Timbits

2010-05-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I may have bought a box of these sinful delights...

And then I may have ate 4 of them before I was even out of the parking lot.....

And then I may have had 6 more after supper.....

Oh dear.

Oh... I almost forgot

2010-04-23T07:42:00.001-07:00

The kids!!!!
We have been spending so much time outside with all of this gorgeous weather. Being outside makes us all so happy!!! We are truly an outdoorsy family.

This and that

2010-04-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went shopping. I had the kids along but also took my mama and my bro who I then ditched my kids on for an hour. I didn't expect much but isn't that the way it usually goes. I actually found some stuff that looked good! Yay for that. Anybody who has had a baby knows how hard this can be. After Reese I didn't buy anything unless I had to for a year. A couple of my purchases are below.

So bright for me. And the capris are a size 8. Did you hear that - a size 8!!!!!! I'm pretty thrilled. I've been working out 3-4- days a week, alternating running, zumba, and biking, and watching pretty closely what I eat. Yesterday was a great pay off for me for all of my hard work. I knew that I had broke my weight plateau, and that things were fitting pretty good, but it stills feel really damn good.

After getting home we made a delicious vegetarian supper from our Jamie Oliver Food Revolution recipe book ( Thanks Pam and Jer). We altered it a bit but made the easy tomatoe sauce and pasta. I will post the recipe later. So good and so simple!

Another thing I've been trying to do is make a little list of sorts. Things I'd like to accomplish before I turn 30 this August.
There are lists all over the internet like this. It's kind of a fun challenge but seeing as how most of these lists are 30 by 30 and seeing as how I'm a little late to the game, I'm going to do 10 by 30.

1. Run 5km.
2. Make a curry dish from scratch.
3. Watch all of the Godfather movies.
4. Attain my goal weight
5. Simplify my wardrobe and give away everything I no longer wear
6. Try fried green tomatoes
7. Take a family trip
8. Purchase an apron
9. Go on a picnic
10. Buy and wear skinny jeans

So far I've accomplished number 10. I've got a ways to go in 3 1/2 months.
Happy Friday !!!!!

Happenings

2010-04-06T09:06:00.001-07:00

I've been lacking posts lately because our computer quit.
So what's been happening around here....
I took Reese to the fair. She loved it. We had to go to the petting zoo twice, and the big sandbox twice.
The sandbox where incidentally momma just about got into a fight. Funny story really... Reese was sitting playing and a little boy about 3 or 4 came and sat beside her. He didn't have a pail and Reese had two so I made her give him one. She kept stealing his toys and I kept going over and making her give them back. Then she stole his shovel and as I was getting up to go over and make her give it back, he pushed his pail over, got up and stormed off. I figured we'd had enough so we got out and were getting ready to leave when he came back with his mom. I heard her say, "which one", but seeing as how we had vacated the sandbox, we were able to avoid a confrontation. But seriously, at least I was sitting 3 feet away watching my kid... and what kind of 3 ish year old boy doesn't just take care of his own problem with a little bitty 2 year old??
Apart from that, we tried all sorts of "fair" food. Mini doughnuts, cotton candy, and popcorn. She totally enjoyed having the day all for herself with no baby brother along. It was a great day!

Sully's needles were middle of last week and he did great. Could it be because his thighs are almost as big as mine?? He weighed in at a whopping 26 lbs and 14 oz. Reese was about 19 when she was his age. He's going to be able to defend himself quite well I think.

Scott and i have started watching Food Revolution with chef Jamie Olive a couple Fridays ago. If you haven't seen it you should definitely check it out. He's going into schools in the States and trying to get kids to eat healthier. It isn't really about calories as much as about eating food that is real and not processed. In the spirit of this show, I have been trying even harder to do the same around here. Not saying we don't cheat and have a box of Kraft dinner and hotdogs once in a while but I'm trying hard to make avoid making pre-packaged crap.

Easter was great. We had great visits with everyone, had awesome food and the Easter bunny not only came to our house but also to both grand-parents house. My kids are spoiled!

That's all for now.

Turkey Lurkey

2010-03-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I decided to make turkey burgers. Neither of us had ever had them and I was curious so I went to a food blog that I read and searched and found this recipe for Spicy grilled turkey burgers with coleslaw.

Spicy Grilled Turkey Burger with Coleslaw


They were amazing.  I will definitely make these again.  I thought it was interesting how much lighter they were than regular ground beef burgers.  They reminded me of summer.  I served them alongside baked homemade french fries which were a big hit with CC.

We were in Winnipeg this past weekend and we were able to get some foods that we aren't able to get here.  We stocked up on some arugula, fresh herbs, polenta, and some italian sausage that jumped out at Scott.  Last night we used up my other pizza crust I had froze and made an italian sausage and arugula pizza.  I still have piles of arugula left and will be trying to find things to make so I can use every last leaf up.  I have been wanting to make an arugula pesto sauce so I will keep you posted.   

I had a wonderful lunch with the most wonderful ladies at the Falafel Place.  It was my introduction to falafel and I loved it.  I will definitely be going back.  At lunch we were able to talk about many things and we cemented our plans to partake in the YMCA's Annual Spring Run at the end of May.  It will be a fun thing to do with the "30" girls and a little challenge to stroke off the life list.

Speaking of life lists... my SIL convinced me to purchase my very first pair of skinny jeans.  Yikes.  I've always wondered if I could pull them off and on Saturday night I finally rocked them... I think.  ha ha.

This being the year of the big 3-0, I'm going to try and challenge myself to do things I normally wouldn't.  Any suggestions?

Happy Monday

2010-03-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

Things I love this dreary Monday morning;

My daughter calling her glo-worm "baby" Kara Shaka. It took my mom to realize she was trying to say Frere Jacques.
I'm down another 3 pounds!! Only 7 more to go to get to my goal weight.
I start Zumba class this Wednesday.
Short of snow, I'm dusting off my running shoes today and going to hit the road.
Scott is getting a broken tooth fixed this afternoon and is coming home right after, probably at least 1 1/2 hours earlier than usual! Boo to a broken tooth but yeah for being able to go and get groceries by myself.
A nice strong cup of java.
Being done vacuuming, breakfast dishes and a load of laundry already this morning.
A big gummy smile from a handsome man in the exersaucer.
A girl with attitude watching Sesame Street and Curious George pretty quietly.

Happy Monday to everybody!! What are you happy about today??

What's for Dinner Tonight

2010-03-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Last night I made pizza, but rather than making just a boring plain old ham and pineapple, which is pretty common around here I decided to make a spinach and artichoke pizza. It turned out delicious.

It started out with my basic pizza dough recipe which I love and is really simple.

2 1/2 cups to 3 cups all purpose flour
1 pkg quick rising yeast ( The jar says this is 2 1/4 tsp)
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup hot water
2 tbsp olive oil

Mix 2 cups flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Stir hot water and olive oil together and mix into flour mixture. Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. Shape dough into ball, cover and let rise 10 minutes.

*This dough can be refigerated up to 8 hours or frozen for up to one month ( thaw in refigerator).

Topping:

1/2 can marinated artichoke hearts
3 cups fresh spinach
3 cloves of garlic
Olive oil

Heat pan on medium heat, add olive oil, garlic and spinach and cook until greens are wilted. Stir in chopped artichokes and about 2 tbsp of the juice. Cook until heated through and some of the liquid has cooked off.

Roll the crust out and put it on a pan. This recipe will make two 12 inch pizzas if rolled out fairly thin. Then rub the crust with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle some finely chopped basil. Add grated mozza and then spinach and artichoke topping. Finish with some sliced roasted red peppers.

Crumble on some feta before serving.

Yummy!!

I'm back!!

2010-03-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

Is anyone out there??

Okay, so I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth. I just had a baby and had nothing interesting to say. Not sure if I do yet but still I'm back.

Having two children has been interesting...

Reese is kind of potty trained. She's good with #1 but was holding it for days with #2. So now she asks for a pull up and does her business and then asks to be changed. I've given in until she's ready to do it on the potty because it isn't healthy for her to hold it as long as she was.
Her vocabulary is amazing and it's hilarious to listen to her talk and sing. Her new thing is wanting to pick her own clothes out and get dressed herself. This has made for some interesting fashion choices!

Sullivan is a huge chunk. He is about 26 lbs and has just recently started rolling. He's a super happy baby and adores his older sister. She can make him laugh like no other! He has such a hearty little laugh it is hilarious.

Apart from the kiddies, which let's face it is what my life is all about right now. I've been doing alright. I really want to try and talk about other things than just the kids here, so I might try and venture into other things I enjoy.

I'm doing ok with the weight loss - Back to where I was before Sullivan but I want to lose 10 more pounds. I have been using the exercise bike about 3 days a week and sit-ups, push-ups, planks, and other strength exercises when I can. I plan to start running again once the snow is gone and the road dries up. Hopefully this will help jump start my metabolism and get me past this plateau I've reached. I've subscribed to Women's Health magazine and if you haven't read it, it's a great magazine. Touches on lots of different things - exercise, healthy recipes, fashion and even a bit of raunchy topics. Recently we tried a new recipe out of it for salmon steaks with red wine butter. Quite simple, and pretty good. The quality of salmon steaks you can get around here is disappointing and honestly kind of killed the dish. Also I think the flavor of the red wine butter might go better with a steak.

I have been doing quite a bit of reading at night when the kids are in bed. Mostly light reads as I find by 9 at night that is all I can handle. A few you might want to check out if you're so inclined are:
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
The Book of Negroes - Lawrence Hill

That's all for now... I will try and update again soon.

Oh baby...

2009-06-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

So today my baby girl is wearing pull ups. This comes about after much discussion, irregular use of the potty and oh yeah... after constantly mangling her diaper every night and then yesterday taking it off after a poopy and it dragging around in her pant leg. Oh and then she ripped off her diaper last night and had pee everywhere! Oy!
So today we gave the big girl diapers a shot and hopefully try and get her going more and more on the potty.
She has been especially trying lately with sleeping habits and hating all things daddy. The girl is still being rocked to sleep and then often and more so with daddy will wake up and scream and shout after being put in her crib. Last night this went on with daddy for 1 and a half hours! And then I had to intervene and that took me half an hour. So if you wonder what we're busy with in the evenings, that just about kills it. Anywho, after screaming for 15 minutes and making herself barf, I finally calmed her down and put her to bed. Speaking of which her big girl room is just waiting for finishing touches and then she will be moving... which will be wonderful with the way things have been going. She napped in her big girl bed on the weekend and did quite well.
I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with her. She has been getting her eye teeth for at least a month now and I cannot quite express into words how jealous I am of people who's children just pop those teeth out fairly quickly and painlessly.
Then there is her inexplicable intolerance for daddy lately. Like honestly the man cannot do anything right. She just yells at him and kicks and fights if he tries to do anything for her. I am still waiting for the daddy's girl stage to kick in.

I think that the teething, combined with a saucy almost 2 year old seems to be our problem, but it is taking all of our patience to tolerate somedays.
On a positive note, she is stringing words together and loves to rhyme right now. She loves Nana banana, daddy baddy, mommy bummy and a couple of her favorite expressions right now are hot tamale and sad baby.

Apart from that all goodness - I only have 30 work days left!!

93 days to go

2009-05-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

The countdown has begun. I'm not in as big of a rush this time around although I would like to see this kid come on its own around my due date. I am however counting down the days until I'm done work - 77, which includes weekends and holidays. Only 42 actual work days left. YAHOO.

In the meantime, this precious little girl of mine is keeping me busy.

She is such a little tomboy right now - loves being outside, loves playing with her tractors in the mud, picking rocks, helping mommy plant and water things. She also loves going for rides on daddy's tractors, or even with mommy for little rides on the lawnmower. Most evenings we have to forcibly bring her inside and make her have a bath. She also likes to watch baseball and recently received her first pink baseball glove and ball from Uncle MoMo. Not sure how the pink glove will coordinate with her Cleveland Indians bat though.....

She's gotten much better at giving big hugs that just make you want to never let go and will give kisses much more readily, especially if she thinks you're sad. I love to see that tender side of her.

She has little tolerance and patience and will tell (yell) you to stop, or don't and last night I even noticed her yelling these things at the dogs. She is stubborn and likes things just so and has quite the temper should things not go her way.

She is funny and smart and bright and I couldn't have wished for a better little girl to be a part of my life.

Honestly

2009-05-12T07:13:00.001-07:00

Is it even possible for bland ass Cheerios to give a person heartburn??

Monday Smile

2009-05-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

WTF?? May??

2009-05-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

So April this year quite literally flew by. With combined convention and holidays, I only worked 11 days last month. HA HA SUCKERS

So we went on our trip to San Fran... leaving the little monster behind with my parents. I'm glad we left her but not anxious to do it again anytime soon. Last time we left her was a year ago and that was so much easier. This time it pretty much broke my heart. I phoned twice from San Fran and when I heard her little voice say mama, well it was quite emotional.

But back to the trip.... it started out a little rocky. Our flight didn't leave until 4:50 so we had ample time to get into the city, have lunch with Jill, and squeeze in a little last minute shopping. Or at least so I thought. We met Jill at 1, had lunch and proceeded to the last item on the list... shopping. Well it went a little better than I thought it would and at 3:30 we were making a mad dash for the airport. Oops.

Jill did a great job of rushing us there, and we arrived at 3:55. This is the point where we try to check in and are told that we missed the flight. Uh yeah.... my gut wrenched. So Scott did some b.s. story about coming in from the country (aw schucks) and all of the flooding, blah, blah. All of sudden we're being checked in. Until we find out that stupid me booked the flight with the married name and the passport is still missing the addition. Oopsies again. So after a big lecture on that, followed by a "good luck getting home" comment, we were on our way.

The flight to Minneapolis was only an hour, yay!, but with the sinus cold that was still not quite gone, I had major issues with my ears, and ended up feeling like my eyeball was going to pop out of my head. Once landed we had 3 hours to kill before the flight to San Fran. I couldn't hear fro the first hour of it, but we managed to sit down for a good meal, watch some baseball and then settle in and wait. Our flight to San Fran was uneventful. 3 and a half hours, which normally isn't too long, but my back ached and I couldn't sleep. We got into San Fran, 11:15 p.m. local time which translated to 1:15 a.m. our time. We had to run through the airport to catch the last subway ride to our hotel. The subway experience was good, contrary to my preconcieved notions ( which involve being mugged, shot, or some other idea that t.v. has planted in my subconscious).

Our hotel was lovely, although would have been a whole lot quieter if by chance we would have noticed the air vents were open the whole time ( minus one night) we were there.

So while there, we crammed a lot of activities into the 4 days. Lots of walking and every form of public transportation available including the subway, the bus, the muni-rail, the cable cars.

We took in the Haight-Ashbury area, Union Square ( where we stayed), the financial district, China town, Nob Hill, Tenderloin area and of course Fisherman's Wharf. We went to a ball game where Scott caught a practise ball, took the ferry to Sausilito, went to Alcatraz island, went to the aquarium, and went to a Black Keyes concert in the Fox Theatre in Oakland. The ball game was good, although freezing cold! Alcatraz was surprisingly good for me. They had an audio tour you took and it was very entertaining. Sausilito was a lovely little community that was very charming and had the best pizza lunch. China town was very quaint although disturbingly stinky. The concert in Oakland was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!!! The Fox Theatre was a gorgeous venue and even the lesbian girlfriends who wanted to fight couldn't ruin the fantastic music we heard. I could go on and on about the delicious food we ingested but I don't think I have enough time. We ate A LOT. Let's leave it at that.

All in all an excellent trip and a much better flight home. I missed my little girl so much and was pumped to see her. This week, I was away for a couple of nights to Brandon and Reese is really getting wary every time she sees my suitcase. It's time now to stay home for awhile and get some lawn work done.

The ball park.

Scott at the ball park.

Moi.

Basically frozen at this point.

Reflecting on how awesome his life is. tee hee

Drunk as usual. hee hee

Alcatraz island.

The aquarium.

I loved these guys at Fisherman's Wharf. (that was basically the only thing I did love about that place)

My virgin margarita was a wee bit tart.

See my comment above!

Easter

2009-04-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

So Easter this year was pretty awesome. I had told Reese that the bunny was coming and that he would bring candy and wouldn't you know, every morning that is the first thing she said to me.

** On a side note.. did I mention that she went poop and pee on the potty a week ago.... YAY! And boo... because she has had no interest since despite constant harassement by mommy and daddy. While changing a rather disgusting diaper yesterday I asked her when she was going to go on the potty. Soon... she replied. Stinker.

So anywho... back to Easter. Saturday we went to C. City for Scott's side. Unfortunately I was still fighting a cold and then we had a good fight to get Reese down for a nap, which resulted in the old rocking chair collapsing and sending me and Reese against the side of the crib. Being the maternal beast that I am, I bravely took the brunt of the impact on my jaw and neck. Lovely. The rest of the day, I just concentrated on getting through. Reese had a lovely time though. She loves gamma and her crazy songs she sings to her. She received some lovely non-chocolatey gifts and we were home in time for a decent bed time.

Modelling her new Dora gardening gloves from Lee & Jill.

Sunday, we wook up to find that indeed the bunny had come to our house. Ceecee didn't even make it down the stairs before she noticed the eggs and of course her new bike in the middle of the floor. Boy is that Easter bunny smart, because she loves that new bike. She did eventually go looking for the eggs and by 10 am we had an extremely wired girl on our hands. We spent the afternoon at Nana and Poppa's and that went remarkably well and without chair crashing incidents. Once again a spoiled little girl.

Loving her new wheels.

Me new golf partner in the making.

Hmmmm... whatch you got??

Lovin his favorite auntie!

Does life get any better?

2009-04-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

* I weighed myself this morning and haven't gained a single pound in a month.... So I think I'm gaining baby and losing a little bit of me! YAY!! Plus I'm right on track this time with how much weight I'm "supposed" to gain!
* I washed the van last night and the sliding door on Reese's side wasn't froze shut this morning! ( Which saved me lugging a 25lb struggling child through the opposite door and dead lifting her into her car seat)
* Rocking out with CeeCee to "Welcome to the Jungle" on the way to work this morning.
* The moderate weather and the sun shining.
* 9 more days to our vacay!!!
* 4 day weekend approaching very quickly.
* Supper out tonight with the curling ladies for our wind up

I think I need some cheese

2009-04-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

I have been a stranger to posting lately. Partly because I am a busy working mama but I think mostly because I am so depressed and sick of this weather. And I really don't want to turn this blog into a whiny, sucky, negative read. Especially when I have such cute pictures of my girl to display. But seriously, I need sunshine and warmth and my rambunctious little monkey needs to be able to go outside and play.

We also have been really busy. On the weekend I had a shower and a social to attend, plus we had my brother stay with us all weekend. This was the beginning of Ceecee's break in routine - going to bed at 9:00 is exhausting for mama. I need a couple hours for myself in the evenings. Monday night we were invited for dinner to our neighbor's house, which was lovely but Ceecee again was 9 before going to bed. Then yesterday we had our ultrasound and by the time we got home, she was once again almost up later than me. So I am super excited to have a simple supper and veg on the couch with a good book. (~ sigh~ this is where a nice glass of wine would come in handy).

So our ultrasound was awesome, much to Scott's dismay, there is only one in there. The technician was the same one who did Reese's ultasound and I remember Reese was super still and made it easy on her.... this one was a little different. It was awesome to be able to watch it kicking, punching and headbutting, and in general just kicking the crap out of mama. I am having such a different pregnancy this time it's weird. I know that everybody said that would happen but I honestly didn't believe it. Mentally it is so much better, I don't even think about it that much and I haven't even opened my What to expect book once. That part is awesome, not obsessing so much about every damn little thing. The physical side on the other hand is worse. I am having way worse heartburn, way earlier. I am already sleeping poorly because I'm uncomfortable. I seem to be having more back aches earlier on and more headaches. I'm sure once the sun starts shining and we get outside and breathe some fresh air everything will get better... right??

On a funny note, my little girl has taken to telling the world when she passes gas. She will announce toot, toot. So today I said, what do you say?, to which she responded, ewww. ha ha.

She is really good at her manners and will say pease, sank-yooouuuu, scuse-me and soddy (sorry) with regularity. We have been trying the naughty spot form of discipline when necessary and she knows that when she is being bad she will go to the corner. She sits decently most of the time and is quick to say soddy and give us a hug and a kiss after. Yay Supernanny, for making these techniques so readily available to the world.

Isn't she such a big girl now... brings a tear to my eye.

Spring is in the air

2009-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

And you know what that means.... rubber boots!! ha ha. Actually I do have a really cute pair for Reese.

We are in the process of renovating CeeCee's big girl room. It was originally going to be a quick fix up and has ended with ripping out the old lathe and plaster, re-insulating, and drywalling. Not that I have had much to do with this process, except for keeping a very curious toddler occupied while daddy is working. He's on to the mudding and taping part this week and I am not looking forward to the fine dust that will surely cover my entire house. I am, however, anxious for this stage to be done as that is when my job starts. That is, the making it all cute and girly stage. I am planning a pink and chocolate brown theme. One wall being stripes of these two colors. We already have an antique bedroom set that my mom has given us to put in there and I picked up some brown curtains the other day. I will post pics when we get it done, which is ideally before we leave for our holiday.

We have officially planned a trip for Spring. We're off to San Francisco mid April for 5 days. We've got lots of activities planned already and I'm sure the time will just fly by. I'm super pumped to get away for a little while and have some grown up time.

I had my first doctor's appointment last week and everything is A-ok. I'm feeling good if you don't count the major heartburn, being tired, blah, blah, blah. Being pregnant is always the same crap and I refuse to whine about it (except to Scott that is). I'm less negative this time and I'd like to keep it that way. I am noticing however that it is harder on my body this time, likely because I'm not in as good of shape. Now that it is warming up, my goal is to get moving a lot more, and eating better. If nothing else, this should at least help with keeping positive. Also, I need to buy some more cute, new maternity clothes. But if you're wondering I think that the Spring stuff on Gap and Old Navy is kind of eh. Nothing that jumps out at me. So if anyone has any clue of where to find cute maternity clothes, please let me know.

Now as Reese likes to say, tootles.

Sugar booger

2009-03-02T11:46:00.001-08:00

K to the A

2009-02-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

So our dear friend KA is getting married in June and Saturday night was her crazy and wild stagette. I mean as wild as a bunch of new moms/ preggo people can get. Let's just say that there were many discussions about babies, more babies, motherhood, epidurals and other sorts of equally fascinating topics. Thank god that Donna was thinking and sent a nice little trivia game that got us talking about more, ahem, "interesting" things. There were quite a few cosmos drank, lots of munchies consumed and of course bowling, which, by the way, I accidently let slip to Scott as I was whining about my sore back on Sunday. Oops.

The lovely Vic and Erin.

Myself and foxy Heather.

Dessert to go with the Sex & the Country theme.

The cat is out of the bag

2009-02-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

We're expecting again for August. Actually Reese's birthday. When we said we'd like our kids two years apart, we meant it.

As if we need another one, sometimes the one we have is too much. Case in point, yesterday after a long, exhausting day, I get to my mom and dad's to pick her up. With all of our lovely weather lately the sliding doors on the van have been sticking. Of course, it's always the side that Reese's seat is on, so it has been a fun week of climbing in the other door with a squirming 18 month old and try to heave her into her seat. ANYWHO.... yesterday this happens again so I place Reese in the front passenger seat, tell her to stay put and shut the door so she doesn't fall out on her face. As I'm walking around to the other side to try and pry the door open, I hear the dreaded click. That's right the little bugger locked me out of the vehicle. Oh and did I mention because it's winter and cold, of course the van is running. And of course she isn't even restrained into her seat. So after a moment of panic. I realized I had the extra key in the pocket of my jacket and the crisis was averted.

And I'm afraid to say that I think she might have my klutzy gene... today she walked straight into a wall because she was looking at me and trying to walk at the same time. Poor little thing... hopefully our next one can be graceful.

I am sooo high school.... enjoy

2009-02-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

I always love reading these things from other people...

YOU:
1. Name: Meghan
2. Where were you born? Boissevain
3. Your hometown? Dunrea
4. What's your main goal in life? Just to be happy and love my life
5. Do you want to have children? I want more than the one I already have.
6. How do you want to die? Quickly I guess... painlessly if possible.

O P I N I O N S
1. Sex before marriage? Hmmmm....
2. Lower the drinking age? Nope....I think there's enough idiots in the bar already.
3. Recycling? A must. For the sake of our children.

L O V E
1. Do you have a crush? Does Eric Dane count?
2. Who is the best hugger? Reesey
3. Love at first sight? Nope. Maybe attraction but not love.

L A S T
1. Person you saw not in your family? Nana and Poppa
2. Person you hugged? Reesey
3. Movie watched? Iron Man
4. Song you listened to? Something gay on the shitty radio we get out here in the sticks

P L A N S
1. What are you doing now? Working.... really hard!
2. What are you doing tonight? Curling
3. What are you going to eat for dinner? Leftover taco salad

I N T H E L A S T M O N T H H A V E Y O U
1. Bought something? yes
2. Gotten sick? unfortunately
3. Been hugged? yes
4. Felt stupid? like 600 times a day
5. Missed someone? hmmm... not really.
6. Failed a test? no
7. Danced? yes
8. Slept with someone? yes
9. Slept with more than one person? yes - we like to bring Reesey to bed with us some mornings

F U T U R E
1. Do you want to get married? Can I go back and say no. ha ha
2. What kind of house do you want? A very big one... with lots of closets and storage options.... I actually had an amazing dream about this the other night.

H A V E Y O U E V E R
1. Shaved your head bald? Absolutely not... nor would I ever.
2. Taken over an hour to get ready? Probably a few times. Not often.
3. Gone to jail? no

A R E Y O U G O I N G T O
1. Continue using the computer? yes
2. Hang out with someone today? weird question... probably.
4. Go to school? ha ha.... please refer to the title of this post.

W H I C H I S B E T T E R
1. Rain or snow? Rain
2. Summer or Winter? summer
3. Text messaging or MSN? OMG... for sure texting. ha ha
4. McDonalds or A&W? Ewww.... do you know what's in that shit. Gross.
5. Movies or shows? Movies.... on the couch in my jammies with snacks!

H A V E Y O U E V E R
1. Said "I Love you"? A few times.
2. Given money to a homeless person? Probably
4. Waited all night for a phone call? Hells no.
5. Snuck out: no....I grew up in the boonies, where would I have gone?
6. Looked at the stars? I guess so... not really my thing - pretty much looks the same all the time
7. Sleep in a bed with a person of the same sex? yes
9. Stolen money from a Friend? All the time. ha ha
10. Seen someone die? no
11. Been on an airplane? Yes
12. Slept all day? Don't think so
13. Missed someone so much it hurt? no
14. Fallen asleep during school? no
15. Been lonely? maybe
16. Cheated in a game? Just with Scott
17. Been in a car accident? A few but they weren't my fault. I'm an excellent driver!
18. Had detention? probably
19. Been so happy you cried? yes... but only when Reesey was born.
21. Regretted loving someone? Nah. What doesn't kill ya, makes you stronger.

My little turkey... gobble, gobble

2009-01-28T11:26:00.001-08:00

As our little girl gets older, her personality just keeps getting more and more defined.... and man what a little weirdo she is!

Exhibit "A"

Exhibit "B"

Exhibit "C"

A correction

2009-01-26T06:50:00.000-08:00

Scott is the not the Creeper, he is the Crippler...
However when Reesey does say it, it does sound a lot like Creepy.... maybe Crippy?

Anywho, wanted to clear that little error up first thing!

Wellllll helllllllo

2009-01-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

So.... what's new? In a flash... nothing. So in lieu of boring work, regular humdrum life I give you Reesey's new(ish) developments.

* Likes to be sung to sleep... we now offer a choice of songs, Twinkle Twinkle ( or Twinkie, twinkie as she puts it), Rock-a-bye baby or ABC's. This new choice method was brought into effect because mommy got sick of singing ABC's 30 times in a row!

* Loves snack time (nack, nack)

* Will actually say please if she really wants something (score for mommy)

* Absolutely loves to be chased. Her daddy is now affectionately called the Creeper and she will screach Creepy, Creepy and expect her daddy to chase her. This typically brings about squeals of delight and laughter.

* Has no interest in t.v. ( even though momma has tried to get her to watch 10 minutes just to get a break!)

* The one show she will watch for 5 minutes is Barney but to her mother's chagrin

* Will rip out any sort of barette or clip I put in her hair within 2 minutes

* Comes and grabs our hand's to lead us to what she might want

* Loves to hide and is actually getting much better at it

* Says her own name... Ceecee

* Drinks with straws

* Is growing taller because she can now reach the microwave at Nana's house ( and turn it off too)

* Has 8 teeth

* Will now give us kisses ( sometimes) without being forced to do so

* Likes to help dust with her own clothe

* Likes to pretend "seepies" with a blankie on the floor

Maybe I'm just in a bad mood...

2009-01-15T07:11:00.000-08:00

But when it's -50 outside why on earth do the farmers start up their trucks just to go for coffee???

I'm singing... I'm at work and I'm siiiiingiiiiiiing

2008-12-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

Did anybody watch Elf the other night????? Since then our house has been a barrage of I'm siiiingiiiing related ditties.

So today is my last day of work... off for two weeks. Still scrambling to get a few things done that I have successfully procrastinate until today but I'm confident that by 4:30 I will be done. I have all of my Christmas shopping done, just waiting on a few more gifts to arrive via the mail and I should be good to go.

We are celebrating Scott's family Christmas this weekend and the festivities start tonight with Lee & Jill coming to stay with us for the night. Tomorrow we will head over to Ma and Pa Klassen's house until Sunday. Then next week I have to get all my gifts wrapped, amongst lunch with friends and all other sorts of fun stuff. Hopefully we will also get to see the Lepp's as Reese can now say Mia, and can't wait to see her! We also hope to see P & J and will work on those names as well!!!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and that we can all get together over the holidays for a visit!!

Santa Baby

2008-12-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Ramblings

2008-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

So it has been busy. Last week I was Winnipeg for the majority of the week for Convention. I always dread going and this year was no different. But it was awesome to see P & J ( ha ha) and Sherry. I realized somewhere along the way that lately I haven't really been feeling like me. I feel lost... like my whole life is Scott and Reese and being a mom and working full time. Anywho... being in Winnipeg for 4 days was wonderful for me. I was able to do anything I wanted, whenever I wanted, I actually took time to do my make up and feel kind of like me for a little while. It was fun to escape and it really rejuvenated me. I think that in the future I will be taking little mini "me holidays" more frequently.

It was also nice to come home though.... Reese is saying a new word a day and has added to her repetoire...

Cuckoo ( Thanks KA)

Home

Boo Boo and Zeke

The bad thing about being gone for a week from work is that the work just waits and stacks up for you. I have 13 more days that I'm working this year and plenty of work and meetings to fill up twice that many days. So I am stressed out. Also, for the first time in many years I am not done Christmas shopping. Needless to say I have too many people to shop for that need nothing. I wandered aroud the mall aimlessly and came up with very little. Except for an outfit for Reese that I'm not overly fond of and chenille tights that cost as much as the dress! I normally not such a sucker but this woman caught me at a vulnerable moment and was a very persuasive ( pushy) salesperson.

That's all for me.

Well hello again old friend...

2008-11-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for lack of posts but life has been busy!

So to try and redeem myself ( plus I seem to have nothing exciting to talk about).... More pics.

Reesey is walking... actually running everywhere these days. Her vocabulary is expanding everyday. Some of the things she says:

Mommy

Dada

Nana (Grandma C.) and also Banana

Poppa ( Grandpa C.)

Momeem ( Uncle Morgan)

Baby Maa (Baby Mac)

Puppy

Cheeeeze

Keys

Down

Done

Brains ( in a creepy goulish voice)

Santa

Hi ( to everyone who will listen)

Ba Bye

Please ( only once and it was in order to get a slice of cheese before supper)

She seems to be trying to repeat a lot of what we say. Which is cool... and also dangerous. She is definitely a chatty cathy like her father. Sheesh!

We seriously love her at this age... which I'm sure I've said before and probably will say again, but she is just so much fun. She sleeps 12 hours a night, eats our food, plays on her own and is actually quite a little entertainer for us. And she's pretty darn cute too... if I do say so myself!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

The girl was a trooper. She wore that costume all day and only stopped for an hour nap all day.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

So last night we carved our pumkins. I guess you could say that Reese was a little more involved this year than last year. She likes to be thisclose to you at all times. She will stand with her back to you and then much like a dump truck minus the periodic beeping slowly back up until she feels that she is touching you and then just plunk her butt down on you. Could be your face, leg, arm, foot, whatever, she's not particularly fussy.

So that being said, it made carving the pumpkins a little tougher. But this year we did two little guys and man is that easier. Half the gunk in both of them than in one big guy. I likey. When Reese wasn't sitting on us, she was grabbing for the sharp objects or grabbing at the pumpkin cutaways and ramming them in her mouth.

"OK honey, time to take your picture with the pumpkins"

"But I don't want to"

"Uh, yeah you do"

"I hate you guys"

"I'm outta here"

New monkey pics

2008-10-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

All decked out in her dress from Austria from Uncle Lee. She had to work pretty hard to carry that little pumpkin around the house... hence the tongue out.

Her new pink winter jacket... which she loves. She likes to carry it all over the house with her.

And I was cleaning out the fridge and all of the vegetables that we didn't eat ( terrible I know) and look what I found in there.

2006

2008-10-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

From our honeymoon. February 2006.

This is my new motivation to get rid of the last 5 pounds.

lovin my life

2008-10-10T12:41:00.001-07:00

So I just bought girl guide cookies.....

totally lovin my life right now.

TGIF

2008-10-10T12:22:00.001-07:00

I love me a bare baby bum.... but this could get dangerous.....

Also,

My hair is now a lovely shade of red for fall.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Before it makes its way to the basement never to be seen again

2008-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Found in a scribbler in a chapter pertaining to government. We figured that the assignment was to write a letter on a subject you felt strongly about to the government.

June 10/ 85

Dear Mr. Murta,

I, Scott Klassen, have a problem which concerns me very much. Seat belts are the large problem. They are not as useful as you and Roland Penner think. As an example this man is riding down the road, when he turns a corner, a large black Ferrari pulls out of a driveway and cannot turn fast enough to get out of his way. In attempt to swerve he turns the wrong way and down a hill he rolled in his car. When he got to the bottom of the hill he was ready to get out but his seatbelt stuck and the car blew up. There are many other ways in which this happens.

Yours truly,

Scott Klassen

It's a Little Awkward....

2008-10-02T09:17:00.001-07:00

Last night Scott and I were going through a box full of his old school work, cards, report cards, etc. And we came across this gem. I had to share.

It's a Little Awkward

A steer that drinks beer
is like
A hog who ate a frog
is like
A seal who liked to steal
is like
A wombat with a tomcat
is like
A skunk who eats junk
is like
A fly who told a lie.

By: Kelly and Scott

12 year old hamburger

2008-09-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

This just might make me never eat McDonald's again.

http://bestwellnessconsultant.com/2008/09/23/1996-mcdonalds-hamburger-karen-hanrahan-best-of-mother-earth.aspx

This weekend in 60 seconds

2008-09-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Scott was away pretty much away the whole weekend so it was just me and Reesey. I swear that girl is going through the terrible twos early.... her incessant whining has been the soundtrack of my life this past week and this weekend was no different. All I can say is thank god for 7:00 bed time.
After the screaming child, who now glares at me, and throws everything on the floor, was in bed, I did manage to watch a few chick flicks. Now I'm no Sex and the City mega fan or anything but while searching for a movie I came across it and thought why not. I loved it! It pretty much sums up everything a chick flick should be. I really loved that it wasn't all cry-y and emotional.... there was some crude humor and fashion shows, and I wasn't bored the whole 2 and a half hours it took to watch it. I would definitely recommend it. Oh... and in case any guy has to sit through it.... I will give you the Scott review - Yes there is boobs in it. The end.

Yesterday we had family photos taken. At 5:30 p.m. I tried very hard to make sure that Reese slept so she would smile a bit.... but of course she had different ideas. So I'm not sure how they are going to turn out but if you get a christmas card from us this year and there is a picture of a screaming child on it, well, I tried.

Feeling neglected

2008-09-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

So I seriously think that Reese is punishing me for dropping her off everyday and going to work. This morning as we were going up the stairs to mom and dad's - she pointed at mom in the window and very clearly said "Mom". "Nana" I said. "Nana". Then she wouldn't give me kisses or wave or anything. Pretty much everybody now gets a wave at least. Last week she was doing kissy faces at the cashier at the Co-op.

Needless to say I think that I have a one year old who is already capable of guilt trips! Yikes.

Hey mom, I just crashed. Can you put that damn camera down and help me out here.

Light as a feather

2008-09-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

Oh happy day.... I weighed myself this morning and I'm down another 2 pounds. Only 7 more to go to reach my goal. The goal is actually 2 pounds heavier than I was pre-baby but who's counting. It just seemed more attainable at the time.
I got my gym membership at the beginning of September and was wanting to go 3-4 times/ week. With work and well, life, I've actually been going more like 2 times a week. I've just been walking at a good clip and with a pretty steep incline, but last night I decided to kick it up a notch. I was pretty impressed that I ran for 15 minutes straight.
I won't even mention the 2 times my arm caught the iPod cord and sent it flying off the back of the treadmill. Nor will I mention the one time that while I was trying to save said flying iPod, I accidently hit the emergency stop, thus making a loud beeping noise, alerting the pre-pubescent boys beefing up at the weights of my presence.
Oh I am such a graceful creature.

Reese's Ist Birthday Extravaganza

2008-09-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

The cake I made for her 1st birthday;

Kari-Ann - please note the quilt underneath the cake..... I couldn't find an appropriate table cloth.... so this worked perfectly.

Clapping for the cake.... what can I say - I'm an excellent cake baker. ( Thank you Duncan Hines)

The most awesome Mickey Mouse, plane push/ride toy. Oh yeah - the propellor actually goes. It only took Scott and I 30 ish minutes to pick it out. We were tempted to go with Mater the tow truck but thought we should attempt a little girliness for Reese. Not so much that we went with the Princess one or god forbid - Dora. Don't even get me started on Dora.

* Please note that she left her hat on for the cake opening AND the present opening *

A recent shot. Have some shame girl and put your boobie away!

And one from the wedding last weekend. Jer might appreciate the "pointing" shot. I think I need to work on the slightly upward head tilt.

Working on the Chain Gang

2008-09-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Today is the end of my maternity leave. I am officially back to work. UGH.

Anywho, I am going to post pics from the big first birthday party and all sorts of other goodies... just not today!
Yesterday our little monkey took 4 steps. These steps required some coaxing and bribing with toys but still - steps. Our little girl is walking... and I got to see it before I got back to work! Today she is coasting back and forth between furniture without extra coaxing. I'm thinking it won't be long and she will be running.

As Requested

2008-07-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

Reese's Pieces

2008-04-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

We are having fun lately with Reese eating anything... contrary to Miss Mia. She does like tweeters ( puffed wheat) and her cookies ( baby mum mum's) and she will eat cereal and most fruit. But if you try to give her veggies or bananas, she will gag and gag and then barf all over. So that has been fun.
Lately she will shake her head back and forth when you say no. Or if she doesn't want whatever you're giving her. It's kind of nice that she is communicating if only a little bit. She also will wave bye-bye, play patty cakes and tell us how big she is by putting her hands over her head.

Here she is playing with Grandpa's hat.

2 weeks ago when it was so nice out - we took Reesey out and let her play on a blanket. She loved watching the dogs and when Scott started up the tractor - she starting laughing and got super excited.

THen we had another big adventure... she met the cows and most importantly the calves.

And to finish off... some delicious baby feet.

New pics

2008-03-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

Just a little picture update.... Reese just had her 6 month shots. She is 18 lbs 14 oz and is 26 1/2 inches long. She is in the 95th percentile.

One of those things I said that I would never put on her head..... but it looks so cute!

Peas

2008-03-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we started Reese on real food. And because I am a mean and cruel person, we started with peas.

I think these pics tell it all.

We have since moved onto prunes and pears. Which she loves! And yes we feed our kid in front of the tv, with no pants on, in her bumbo chair!

And we bought some new wheels since I last talked to the internet.

Neither of us ever wanted a van but with a kid I have totally changed my opinion. I love my new van!

ARRRGHHH

2008-02-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say that I am not ignoring any of you. I have received emails from a few of you and I have not returned any of them. And there is an excellent reason why.... I'm back at work and my life officially sucks!
Work is so much more than I bargained for. What was supposed to be 2 days a week is now 4-5 and don't even get me started on the rest of it..... I will be so happy when this is over.

A bloggin we will go.... tra la la la la

2008-01-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

So... been awhile. This mothering thing is hard. Most days I feel like I have no time for myself let alone to blog. We were doing well with sleeping but for the last 3 weeks Reese has been waking up ( sort of) at least 4 times a night. She's not eating just needs to be comforted. This is really taking its toll on us.
In spite of it all, we had wonderful holidays. Reese was a spoiled little monkey. I haven't downloaded pics yet but I promise it's coming. For New Year's we went to Minot with my family. What was supposed to be a quiet evening turned into a late evening for Mommy. Man did I pay for that the next day. Some fairly recent pics from right before Christmas. We had 4 month shots yesterday and Reese was a brave little soldier. She weighed 15 lbs, 13 oz and was 26 1/4 long. She's slowed down in the weight department but is still in the 95th percentile for both weight and height.
~Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy 2008~

Two month shots

2007-10-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

As I was just typing the title of this post I made a typo. Two month shits. ha ha - not quite.
So yesterday we had a tramautic event - the two month shots. She had to get one in each thigh. Ouch. I was so nervous to take her, I thought for sure I would cry. Although not a fun experience, it wasn't that bad. She cried pretty good but calmed down quickly. She also got weighed and measured. 12 lbs, 13 oz and 23 7/8 inches long. She is in the 95th percentile for her age.
She was tired and sore for the day and just wanted to sleep and cuddle with mama all day. Sure am glad that's over!

And one smiley shot for good measure....